Early voting for new HISD recapture question begins Monday

(Effie Nidam/CNN)

HOUSTON – Early voting started Monday to decide a question about how the Houston Independent School District should pay the state for its recapture obligations.

The so-called Robin Hood Law requires that school districts that meet a certain threshold of property value pay the state money, which is then distributed to school districts with less tax revenue.

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There are two methods of payment that HISD officials are considering. One calls for the district to purchase attendance credits by writing a check to the state for local property taxes. The other, known as “detachment,” calls for the district to remove the most valuable non-residential, commercial properties from its tax roll and assign them to the tax roll of other school districts.

Voters already answered this question during the November general election, rejecting the attendance credits method. However, school district leaders called for another election after recent changes by state leaders to the amount of recapture obligation assigned to HISD, reducing the bill from $162 million to $77.5 million.

The second vote is scheduled for May 6, but early voting on the measure began Monday and continues through May 2.

A vote for the measure means HISD would purchase attendance credits, while a vote against the measure means HISD would pay the bill through detachment.

Click or tap here to view information HISD has assembled about the measure.

Click or tap here to obtain a sample ballot and to find an early-voting location.